Halton police warn of surge in scams

Fraudsters use technology and mystery shopper ploys

Oakville Beaver

Halton police are advising residents to be wary about who they give their personal information to following a recent surge in Internet and other scams.

Police said two Internet scams currently making appearances in the region include the malicious software trick where victims receive a phone call from an individual claiming to be a representative of a software firm.

This individual advises they have identified the victim’s computer as being at risk and offer to ‘fix’ the problems for a fee and request remote access to examine it.

If the victim agrees malicious software may be installed on the their computer, compromising personal and financial records and passwords.

Police said providing credit card or bank account information to pay the caller’s fee may also result in fraudulent transactions occurring on the victim’s accounts.

A second Internet scam called phishing involves the individual being sent an email from a fraudster posing as financial institution or government organization.

The email asks the victim to hand over their personal and banking details for the purpose of updating records or verifying security information.

Police said the email may appear authentic, however, genuine government organizations and financial institutions would never expect someone to send their personal information in such a format.

Police are also warning of something called the mystery shopper scam in which a person is enticed by someone claiming to represent a business to become employed as a mystery shopper for that business.

In this scenario, the new mystery shopper is sent a cheque for a large amount of money to be used to test the company’s procedures and customer service skills.

Police said after receiving the cheque, the victim is requested to deposit it in their bank account, withdraw the funds and send them to a third party via a money transfer company.

The victim will find out later that the cheque was counterfeit, thus making the victim accountable to pay for the funds he/she transferred.

Residents are encouraged to visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website at www.antifraudcentre.ca and the Competition Bureau’s Information Centre at www.competitionbureau.gc.ca to learn more about these types of scams so they can avoid becoming victims.

Additional tips to avoid online frauds and scams can be found at www.haltonpolice.ca under the Criminal Investigation – ‘Fraud’ tab.